Log in

Census takers verifying addresses across Surprise

Posted 8/19/19

U.S. Census Bureau representatives are starting to canvass Surprise neighborhoods to verify addresses in preparation for next year’s 2020 decennial Census.

The Census is a count of America’s …

You must be a member to read this story.

Join our family of readers for as little as $5 per month and support local, unbiased journalism.


Already have an account? Log in to continue.

Current print subscribers can create a free account by clicking here

Otherwise, follow the link below to join.

To Our Valued Readers –

Visitors to our website will be limited to five stories per month unless they opt to subscribe. The five stories do not include our exclusive content written by our journalists.

For $6.99, less than 20 cents a day, digital subscribers will receive unlimited access to YourValley.net, including exclusive content from our newsroom and access to our Daily Independent e-edition.

Our commitment to balanced, fair reporting and local coverage provides insight and perspective not found anywhere else.

Your financial commitment will help to preserve the kind of honest journalism produced by our reporters and editors. We trust you agree that independent journalism is an essential component of our democracy. Please click here to subscribe.

Sincerely,
Charlene Bisson, Publisher, Independent Newsmedia

Please log in to continue

Log in
I am anchor

Census takers verifying addresses across Surprise

Posted

U.S. Census Bureau representatives are starting to canvass Surprise neighborhoods to verify addresses in preparation for next year’s 2020 decennial Census.

The Census is a count of America’s population and is required by the U.S. Constitution each decade. The next one is April 1.

In order to get an accurate and complete population count, Census representatives work to verify addresses before the survey is sent out to homes.

Those representatives are called address canvassers, and they verify address lists across a wide area of physical geography, housing structures and residence types.

Part of this effort involves them being on the ground – noting where houses, apartments, shelters, and other residences are located.

Through Friday, Oct. 11, Census representatives will attempt to knock on every door in the neighborhoods they are canvassing.

If you are visited by someone from the U.S. Census Bureau, here are some tips to assure the validity of the field representative:

  • Census takers must present an ID badge that includes a photograph of the field representative, a Department of Commerce watermark and an expiration date.
  • Note that census workers may be carrying a Census Bureau phone or a laptop as well as a bag with a Census Bureau logo.
  • Call 800-923-8282 to speak with a local Census Bureau representative.

Residents who are visited by an address canvasser won’t be answering the actual Census questions. Those residents will still need to respond to the Census when the official count begins next year.

By April, every household in the U.S. will receive an invitation to participate in the Census. This will be the first Census in which responding will be done online, by phone, as well as by mail.

The results are critically important because census data helps businesses, researchers, and policymakers all make decisions.

The data could show, for example, that the community needs a new fire department or hospital, more funding for school lunches, or more services for single-parent families.

Each year, the results help determine how more than $675 billion in federal funding is distributed to states and communities.

By law, the Census Bureau cannot share answers by name with others, including welfare agencies, the Immigration and Naturalization Service, the Internal Revenue Service, courts, police and the military.

Visit surpriseaz.gov/census2020.

Editor’s note: The City of Surprise contributed to this story.

Featured